Isabel's Choice

Chapter 19 - Isabel

Trees of luscious green fly by, as the Alpha is speeding on the bumpy road that leads to Land Core. I was already nauseous when I got in the car, and, after half an hour of his driving, I am on the brink of vomiting on my new black dress.

"Alpha, would it please be possible to drive slower?" I manage to whisper shakily but he doesn't listen.

***

Two weeks ago he would have. Two weeks ago I was carrying his male. I had made it to thirteen weeks - a first for me - and Owen was hopeful this one would make it.

But then one morning I woke up with cramps and I lost both the baby and my mind.

It was one of those hot and humid days when the air clung to my clothes and my hair, and, by the time I got to the River Border, both sweat and blood were dripping out of me.

I stood by the water, watching it rushing South, towards the Sea all shifters had learned about, but very few had seen it. And for some minutes I imagined how it would feel to jump in - allowing the cool waves to clean my body and sway it away, past our pack house, past the swamps, down to the canyon, and then further into the Regular Human Territories.

Maybe the River would then have mercy on me and wash me away on their shores. Humans didn't need chosen mates to ensure pack stability. They didn't need heirs to ensure pack continuity.

It was only when I walked with all my clothes on in the water that Willow realized I may have gone too far in my fantasy. She took me over and ran through the dense oak forest until our eastern border, where, between round scattered rocks, was a dark abandoned den. I stayed there in wolf form, and my beast attacked every female that Owen had sent to check in on me, including Nura.

This morning however it was the Alpha himself who stepped in front of the tiny cave. He was not impressed by Willow's threatening sound, because he had an even more powerful weapon.

"Shift," he ordered and my wolf retreated, leaving me naked on the cool rocky floor of my hiding spot.

"Come out, Isabel."

"No."

"Come out or I will drag you out."

I didn't answer but I also didn't move. I would have let him proceed with his plan, but Willow disagreed and fangs descended in the hand he had reached out to me. He smacked us hard enough to unclench the jaws from his flesh and force my wolf to back off once more.

He briefly held his injured hand and then used his intact, now blood smeared one, to grab my leg and extract me from the safety of the little cave. I was hoping he would curse and deal me some instant punishment for my behavior, but, as he handed me a robe to cover myself, he was scarily silent.

We walked quietly to the house and he told me I should be ready in one hour, to drive to Eagle Rock.

My brain fog lifted slightly, long enough for me to remember that, indeed, a while ago we had received the invitation to a pack transfer ceremony.

Kari had decided to hand over the pack's leadership to his middle son, who had barely come of age and had found his true mate.

This important political event was happening today.

***

After I accidentally met Lars, even though our meeting had been so suddenly interrupted by Alpha Kari's arrival, Willow tried to force me again to hang out in the coffee shops close to border control.

I did, for some weeks, but I never saw him again. Then I got pregnant, and the strong, ever-changing smells of the port turned my stomach, so I couldn't sustain my wolf's stalker habits anymore.